Laboured Breaths
by champangesupernova
Summary: Barbra 'Babs' Ibarra is a journalist that has been a war corespondent in Iraq for the past year. When she returns home to Portland, Oregon the last thing she expected was to be thrown into another war-zone. But first she must meet the Avengers and join them in their training to destroy yet another alien invasion. OC/Bruce Banner. Set following the events of the Avengers. R&R.
1. Chapter One

She woke up in a daze, not quite sure where she had roused from, looking down she realized she was in an unfamiliar bed. This shocked her, she could have sworn the last thing she was doing was washing the dishes from her late night get together with close friends. It had been a monthly routine that the group of close knitted friends had honoured for the years following university. But last night seemed like years ago to her as she slowly lifted her head from the pillow and gazed around the unfamiliar room. It was stark white and smelled of sweet lilacs, probably owing to the fact that there was a large bouquet of them on the room's bedside table. She looked down to the bed she was laying on and realized that she was connected to an array of wires, leading up to what looked like a state of the art heart monitor. Babs began to panic, this place was much too homey to be any sort of medical facility and even if it was, there was no way she would be able to afford this kind of accommodation. Was she kidnapped? Drugged? Hypnotized? Had there been an accident? Babs began to feel the tight restriction of her lungs, which happened whenever she was in the beginning stages of a panic attack. Her heart monitor began to beep crazily though her hearing was fading quickly. She could hear a door open and the frantic movement of bodies around her, hushed voices speaking of something, medical maybe?

"Barbra. Barbra. Are you awake? Can you hear my voice?"

she heard a soothing voice speaking her name as she tried to calm herself down.

"She has laboured breaths, probably not helping her cause"

she heard another voice speak as she felt an all too familiar oxygen mask being placed on her face.

"We've got to get her heart beat slowed, it going to pump right out of her chest,"

the soothing voice spoke again on the opposite side of her bed.

Seconds later she felt a calm overcome her, leaving her feeling heavy though better composed. She slowly felt her hearing come back and her breath become less constricted. She opened her eyes after a minute to the faces of two men stand at her bedside, staring at her as she awoke from her attack.

The calm that had just washed over her was quickly erased as she remembered that she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. She began to tear off the wires connecting her to these men's machines and ripping off her mask providing her the oxygen her body was craving. She leapt out of the bed and made it only a few steps before she doubled over from the sudden exertion. She felt her lungs constrict once more as the panic of her current whereabouts coursed through her body.

"Who are you?"

she managed to spurt out before her need for oxygen overcame her and she welcomed the one man's offer of the discarded oxygen mask as she sank to the floor in a broken heap. Taking a few deep breaths she looked up to the men standing before her and spoke once more.

"Who are you and where the Hell am I?"

trying to sound as menacing as possible but sound like nothing more than a fat man post-exercise.

"You're in Stark Tower, in New York City. I'm Bruce Banner and this is Tony Stark. We're only here to help you."

Bruce then reached into his tanned pants' pocket and retrieved both an id. badge and a medical license, proving his credentials and identity. The Tony man also reached into his pockets and retrieved his own id. badge. Babs reached for both of the cards before looking them over slowly. They seemed legitimate and the name Stark rang familiar in her mind.

"I don't understand…"

she mumbled through the mask that was now once more securely strapped to her face. She looked up at the two men with questioning eyes.

"Are you aware of the agency S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Tony asked Babs

"You know, the 'Saved the world from an alien invasion' S.H.I.E.L.D?"

a slight arrogant tone to his voice as she slowly nodded.

"Avengers right? That was one of their programs, right?"

she thought out-loud. The gears began to grind in her head as the name Stark suddenly rang a bell. "Iron Man! That's you, right?"

"Haha, catch on quickly I see,"

Tony grinned with a sense of pride.

"The one and only".

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

"Sorry, just a minute"

Tony excused himself as he walked out of the room to answer his cellphone.

"Fury…yeah she's awake now"

Babs heard as Tony walked further down the hall until she could no longer hear his conversation.

"Okay, I understand this S.H.I.E.L.D. thing but that still leaves the question of how the Hell I got here?"

she asked, a slight panic still evident in her voice.

Bruce knelt down to her eye level and gave her a look of sincerity as he spoke,

"We're going to answer all of your questions but how about getting back into bed first, the floor can't be that comfortable and I'd like to continue monitoring your heart rate. That is of course if you don't mind, you're under no obligations here"

he spoke awkwardly, but Babs saw the good intentions behind his words.

"That sounds just fine,"

she smiled slightly as she began to stand, only to stumble as she felt the sudden change in height and leaned into the wall behind her only to feel her body grasped by a firm pair of hands.

"Easy does it,"

Bruce spoke gently as he slowly guided Babs back to bed and began reconnecting her to the heart monitor and was happy to see it much slower than the previous reading it had displayed. He grabbed the blankets that had been kicked to the ground during Babs panic earlier and settled them around the young women, attempting to make this situation as comfortable for her as possible.

Bruce looked back up to see Babs, eyes closed and taking long, deep breaths of oxygen from the mask she was still attached to. As he stared at her he supposed that she could be no more than 22, though remembering S.H.I.E.L.D.'s information on her stating her age at a prime 27 years old.

She opened her olive green eyes, only to be met with Bruce's deep brown ones, a look of compassion within them.

"How is your breathing feeling now, Barbra?"

Bruce asked, partially to end the length of silence that had grown somewhat awkward for the two new acquaintances.

"Better, though that isn't saying very much considering that I have about the lung capacity of an eight-month old infant."

She responded, her dark humor shining through ever so slightly. Bruce looked at her with a bemused look as he nodded and began to speak once more.

"Yes, it does say in your file that you were in an accident as a child that left them damaged. A fire, correct?"

he asked.

"Yep. A fire. Damaged my lungs and left me as the 'Tank Girl' for life"

Babs responded referring to her "pet", her constant companion, her nasal cannula and oxygen tank.

"Well if your breathing is improving I'm going to suggest mask for the next 12 hours and cannula afterwards, sound alright?"

Bruce asked, well more shyly suggested.

Babs nodded as she yawed and sank further into her pillows. She had so many questions that needed immediate answering but the sedative she had been given was beginning to take its toll on her small frame and she began to drift off into a dreamless sleep. Bruce watched as she settled into what he could only assume was a peaceful slumber by her decreased heart rate. He pulled a book from the shelf in Babs' room and began to read. Insuring that he would be by her side to answer any and all questions she had when she awoke.


	2. Chapter Two

Babs awoke once more in her room in Stark Tower, though this time not with panic. She realized she must have been asleep for some time; she was disconnected to the heart monitor that had been at her bedside, beeping ever so slightly the night before, lulling her to sleep. Her oxygen mask had also been replaced by a cannula and as she gazed across the room towards the wall to wall window she noticed that the sun was just beginning to rise, indicating that she had slept for at least the last 12 hours. As she sat up further in her bed and yawned she noticed Bruce sitting by her bedside, book resting in his lap and dozing in a chair that looked less than comfortable. She decided she would let him sleep a few more minutes before she berated him with her continuing saga of questions. She slowly lifted herself from her bed and reached for the ceiling in an invigorating stretch of her cramped muscles. Babs then reached for the medium sized, navy coloured carrier/knapsack that contained the oxygen tank that she was connected to. She lifted it beside her and admired it for a moment. When she had first been notified that she would be traveling to the Middle East to report on the fighting she had purchased a tiny Canadian flag to sew onto it as a symbol of her non-hostile status. She was after all a Canadian citizen, born and raised in Whitehorse before moving to the U.S. to pursue her journalism career. Her fingers lightly brushed her reminder of home before she placed it on the floor once more and pulled up the handle, wheeling it closer to herself.

She stood up with the aid of the bedside table, her legs feeling weaker than she remembered them being yesterday, though the adrenalin racing through her body yesterday most likely helped. She put her weight on both legs and took a tentative step forward as she let out an involuntary groan, her legs burning from lack of use.

_'How long have I been here?' _Babs wondered.

She must have been unconscious for quite some time for her legs to be this weak. The pain reminded her of the time her vehicle had broken down in Iraq and she and her guide were forced to walk 45 kilometers from Kirkuk to Tawuq, her legs nearly giving out after hours of walking in the hot sun. Though this was a slightly different situation, she had a bed she could fall back into if the pain was too intense, however it was probably best just to walk out the cramping, no need to be a wuss about it.

She heard a rustle behind her as she approached the wide window and turned around to see Bruce stirring from his sleep. She fought the urge to laugh as he looked around confused at his surroundings for a moment, most likely not accustomed to waking up in a chair at the crack of dawn. Though when his eyes landed on Babs he immediately stood up, his book falling off of his lap of course and causing an audible BANG before he awkwardly picked it up and placed it back on a shelf behind him. A light blush now in his cheeks he made his way over to the window to join Babs.

"I see you're awake and walking. How are you feeling this morning?"

He asked with the gentle voice that she was beginning to admire.

"A little stiff but other than that just fine, thank you"

She answered after a brief pause to truly overview her body's condition.

Bruce nodded with a light trace of a smile on his face, uttering

"Good, good"

underneath his breath as he stared out the window at the beautiful rising sun.

"And your breathing? That's doing fine?"

He asked, awkwardly looking from her face and following the trail of tube down to her knapsack.

"Yeah, everything is in tiptop shape, but I'm just wondering how I ended up here? What happened? And why am I now in the middle of Manhattan?"

Babs asked, looking Bruce straight in the eye with the determination that she needed to get her questions answered,

_'Just like an interview,' _

she thought to herself. Bruce opened his mouth to answer but before the first syllable left his mouth he was over taken a much more pronounced voice.

"Ahhh, yes. Questions. The continuing saga of questions,"

the voice of Tony sounded behind her, he having just entered the room in due time to overhear her questions.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll tell you. Take a load off Barbie"

"It's Babs"

she addressed seriously,

"and I have been laying on that stupid bed for God knows how long. I'm tired of sitting. I want some answers. How the Hell did I get here and what the Hell happened to me?"

Babs crossed her arms in a motion to make her appear stern about her questions and the fact that she was growing more and more impatient.

"Okay, okay… Babs,"

Tony answered putting his hands up in a faux defensive pose in mockery of her demanding look towards him.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has been tracking you for quite some time now, since you exposed those gamma radiation experiments in Iraq, which was quite the story I might add. S.H.I.E.L.D. had been closing in on that lab before you brought it to light, they planned to harness the radiation's power for creating a make-shift Tesseract but when the lab was destroyed by the military after your expose so was the research on the gamma radiation. The heads of S.H.I.E.L.D. figured you must be working for someone, someone who didn't want S.H.I.E.L.D. to get their hands on this research. So they followed you for the next few months as you returned to the States and when they realized there was no threat from you. They abandoned their stalking."

He paused momentarily as he allowed the information of Babs' trailing settle in. She looked slightly shocked but nodded for him to continue.

"So all was quiet on the Barbie,"

Babs gave him a disapproving look,

"Babs front until you showed up again on the S.H.I.E.L.D. system. It seemed you had increased amounts of gamma radiation in your body, enough to spark the interest of a few 'higher-ups'. You were than pursued by two agents in Portland, though they weren't able to reach you before an unidentified source set fire to your house a week ago."

Tony made to continue but Babs stopped him.

"What do you mean? I'm here because of a house fire?"

she asked quizzical.

"No, you're here because you were drugged while you slept, most definitely by the same source. You would have never made it out of your house had the two agents not been planning their own visit to your house that night. They were able to get you out of there and here to New York. You were under the influence of an unidentifiable anesthesia and were suffering from severe smoke inhalation. You were flown here from Portland and have been in and out of consciousness for the past six days."

Bruce explained as he took over the explanation of her predicament.

Babs nodded in understanding, before asking quietly, almost childlike, looking up into the sympathetic eyes of Bruce,

"Is my house gone?"

Bruce nodded slowly, knowing that all of her possessions had been burned to ash. All that she now possessed were the pajamas she had been wearing the night of the fire and her knapsack.

"Okay, well I think I might lay down for a while and let this digest"

Babs almost whispered, it evident that she was attempting to hold back the tears that had been brought on by the news of the fire.

"Alright Babs, we'll let you rest but we'll just be right down the hall if you need anything. Take it easy and we can talk more later"

Tony said as he rose from the chair he had been reclined in throughout the story.

A barely audible mumble of affirmation came from Babs curled form on her bed. The two men exited her room and with the click of the door the tears Babs had been containing fell. She felt as though she had just been socked in the stomach, the rug pulled out from underneath her.

_Tesseract? Unidentified source? A fire? Drugging?_

Jesus, this was just too much. She knew that she had asked and that had it not been for those agents she would most likely be dead but she couldn't help but feel anger towards everyone involved. She realized that this was a selfish feeling to have towards the people that had helped her but the fact that every worldly possession she had was now just sitting as ash in a burnt field made her inconsolably angry. And sad. And frustrated.

The thought of what she would do now, where she would go from this point forward raced through her mind as she drifted off into what was sure to be a fitful sleep.


	3. Chapter Three

Babs awoke for what was the third time in Stark tower, though she was growing quite familiar with the room she had been stuck in for God knows how long. She rolled over in her bed and took notice to a new addition to her room; a digital clock positioned perfectly on her bedside table, brightly shining the time "_2:34 a.m."_. Babs tried to fall back asleep but to no avail; having slept for six steady days would do that to a person she supposed. A million thoughts raced through her head of the occurrences of the past few days. Her house was gone, she was on the opposite side of the country, thousands of kilometres from home and in the Stark Tower in New York City, surrounded by members of an elite group of superheroes. As her racing mind refused to cease, Babs realized that her fight back to sleep was futile and she slowly rose out of her bed and made her way across the room to the door that she assumed led to the rest of the building but not before spotting a pair of what seemed to be slippers sitting by the door. She slid them on to protect herself from the cold, hardwood floor and made her way out into the unknown of dark tower, oxygen in tow.

She quietly padded down the hallway noticing a light beaming from another room further down the way. Being the investigative person she was, Babs followed the hallway towards the light and came to the end of the hallway where she peered in the doorway of the room. She saw that it was a brightly lit lab with many machines and high-tech computers. She slowly made her way into the lab and began to look around, examining what looked to her as a set from a science fiction film. As she finished her way around the lab she came to a pair of desks with a breathtaking view of Manhattan. She sat at one of the desks to admire the beautiful city lights taking in the city from such a great height, when she heard footsteps approaching behind her. Babs stood quickly to be presentable and polite to the person who had just walked in and come face to face with Bruce Banner.

"I see you're up and about,"

Bruce said with a serious but gentle tone in his voice,

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel much better, thank you"

Babs responded politely

"How are you?"

Bruce glanced at her with a hint of a smile in his eyes,

"I'm doing just fine,"

"Good. That's good."

Babs could feel the awkwardness seeping into this weak conversation and was about to excuse herself to her bedroom when Bruce spoke once more.

"What are you doing walking around so late?"

he asked,

"I hope I didn't wake you with any of the noise I was making in here."

"Oh God, no. I think the fact that I've slept more in this past week than in the last year probably has something to do with my nighttime wandering. I don't think it's humanly possible for me to sleep for any longer!"

Babs rambled stopping to catch her breath ever so slightly,

"What about yourself? What are you doing up so late?"

Bruce stared at her slightly amused before he answered her simply,

"I'm here doing research for Stark and I get lost in my work sometimes,"

Babs nodded, knowing that feeling all too well. While working in Iraq the only way she knew that it was time for sleep was when she could no longer physically move or her translator forced her to get sleep for the sake of her sanity.

Lost in thought about her work she didn't realize that Bruce had begun speaking once again to her.

"I'm sorry, pardon?"

"I asked if you wouldn't mind me checking your vitals, just to clear any worries of any drug still being in your system."

He asked gently, almost nervously. She found it very endearing and comforting in this foreign environment.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course."

She replied with maybe a little too much enthusiasm, though Bruce did not seem to take any notice.

"Good, good,"

he mumbled and led Babs towards another desk in the opposite corner of the lab and pulled out a chair for her to sit in. As he paced around the lab finding whatever it was that he needed Babs took a long, hard look at the timid doctor. He was of average height and in a crowd she assumed that he would blend in considerably well, dark hair, dark eyes and a reticent composer. He seemed to her as a gentle man and a trustworthy one at that. He also was not too terrible to look at, Babs thought to herself, blushing ever-so-slightly at the thought. Lost in her day dream, she didn't realize that Bruce had made his way back over to her with a small machine that she assumed would be able to read off her heart-rate and blood pressure. He also placed down a small plastic container with an opaque coating that kept the contents unknown to her.

Bruce wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her upper arm and attached a pulse-ox. to her index finger, Babs taken aback by the warmth of his hands against her cool under oxygenated skin.

"You're just going to feel a little bit of pressure from the cuff",

he reminded her softly as he turned on the machine. The sat in silence for a few dozen seconds before the machine beeped and signaled that it was finished. Bruce began to remove the cuff from Babs' arm as he glanced at the readings of the machine.

"You're blood pressure is fine, heart-rate good and oxygen levels a tad, low but I'm sure you already knew that",

he recounted, the last point with a bit of a sarcastic tone to it.

"Okay, good. Thanks Dr. Banner."

Babs replied, beginning to rise from the chair but Bruce's hand came down gently on her shoulder, guiding her back down into the chair.

"One more thing before I can let you back to your wandering, sorry. Just a quick blood sample to ensure the drug is gone from your system,"

he said as he opened to opaque box to reveal a sealed needle and three small vials.

"Oh sorry,"

Babs unnecessarily apologized to Bruce for her premature move to leave as he made his way to the lab's sink to wash his hands.

"Just one thing about to warn you of; I'm fine around blood, being a war correspondent and all but I have a bit of an issue with my own blood."

she admitted, figuring it was better to warn the doctor beforehand rather than him finding out while she's passed out in the chair.

Bruce made his way back towards her and grabbed an alcohol wipe from the container, placing her arm gently onto the desktop and wiping the crease of her left arm before looking down into her eyes.

"I'll try my best to make it unnoticeable, no need for worries,"

he calmly replied as he grabbed a tourniquet from his kit and wrapped it around her arm searching for a vein.

"Oh it's not me I'm worried about. I just don't want to alarm you when I'm on the floor unconscious,"

she explained to him.

"Well I hope we can avoid that scenario,"

he said with a slight grin as he found a vein and pierced it with the needle drawing back to ensure he had punctured the vein. He glanced away from the task at hand quickly to see Babs' looking the other way and he grinned. This woman was made out to be one of the toughest journalists of the generation, but here she was stressed by the sight of her own blood.

"Okay, Miss. Ibarra. One more vial and we're done."

he said as Babs' began to speak.

"I…don't feel…"

Babs' tried to communicate with Bruce about her growing state of dizziness but it was too late and she felt herself slip into the stupid weakness that was her lack of tolerance of her own blood.

Bruce acted quickly, extracting the needle from her arm, untying the tourniquet and reclining her back in the chair and wetting two cloths and placing them on her neck forehead. He gently placed his hands on both of Babs' cheeks and began to stir her from her unconsciousness.

"Barbra can you open your eyes for me? We're all done, nothing left to worry about. You just need to open your eyes"

Babs' opened her eyes to be met with the brown orbs of Bruce and the feeling of her face between his two calloused, warm hands.

"Shit, I told you so."

She exclaimed.

This earned a laugh from Bruce as he

"I suppose you did prove me wrong, I should listen to the doctor more often,"

he replied sarcastically, referring to Babs' herself.

"Just relax for a minute and take some nice deep breaths, alright?"

She rolled her eyes as Bruce took the vials of her blood and stored them in what she assumed to be a very high-tech fridge.

He cleaned up his work area quickly as Babs' regained her senses and made a move to stand only to be met with another dizzy spell. She felt Bruce's hand grab her elbow and helped to ease her up into a standing position, the cloths dropping to the floor with a wet splat.

"Let me help you back to your room,"

he offered like the gentleman Babs' had assumed he was.

"That be great, thanks."

She replied, leaning into his strong grasp on her as she reached out for the handle of her oxygen tank. She gave him a small smile as she noticed his glance towards her.

As the duo made their way to Babs' room, they walked in companionable silence, only the sound of wheels dragging behind her polluting the sound of tranquility.

They entered Babs' room and Bruce led her to her bed where she graciously accepted the comfort of her pillows and the warmth of her bed.

"I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for me in these past few days Dr. Banner. I really do appreciate it."

She admitted honestly to the quiet doctor who had been helping her to remove the slippers on her feet.

"Please, don't mention it Miss. Ibarra and please just Bruce is fine"

he said as he awkwardly made his way to the doorway.

"Well, then just Babs is fine, Bruce."

She said with a smile.

"Goodnight, Babs,"

Bruce replied with a ghost of a smile as he closed the door and she drifted off into sleep once again.


	4. Chapter Four

The sun was shining brightly into Babs' room the following morning, though this didn't bother the young woman at all, seeing as she had been awake since five. She had been sitting at the desk located directly in front of the wall-to-wall window in her room gazing out into the Manhattan skyline for hours, day dreaming and thinking back to her home in Portland. Nothing was left. She had checked the Portland news on the computer conveniently located on her desk, a picture of the remains of her house making the front page of the Portland Chronicle the previous Saturday with the title "_House of Prize-Winning Journalist Burns to Ground: Cause of Fire Still Unknown"_. All that was left was the foundation and her front porch steps, which looked a little silly, leading up to nothing. Babs' had given herself a few hours to wallow in her self-pity and have a good cry; all of her possessions were gone and she no longer had a home to go back to. Her memories seemed to have burned away along with her house, all of her worldly possessions were gone, though she did admit she did not have many, the ones she did keep held a special place in her heart. Her parents wedding album; gone. The quilt her grand-mum had made her the Christmas before she passed away; gone. And of course all of her journals had been obliterated, just feeding the fire. After her self-allowed time had passed she had no choice but to begin her life once more, from this point forward.

Babs' stood slowly and quietly crept out of her room, looking for a bathroom that she might be able to bathe in, having been unconscious for six days, she doubted she looked anything but filthy. As she began down the hallway, the opposite direction that she had traveled last night to the lab, she noticed that most doors were locked. Grumbling to herself she continued down the hallway until she came into a bright open space that she realized was the kitchen. Babs' looked into the breakfast nook on the other side of the room and saw Bruce, Tony and a beautiful red-haired woman in conversation over empty plates. As she attempted to back up slowly into the hallway, not feeling ready to be social quite yet, her oxygen tank betrayed her, bumping into an end table and knocking the picture frames that littered it over with a _CLANG_. There was no avoiding socialization now she realized as all three looked up from their conversation, slightly surprised to see a disheveled Babs' still in her pajamas and attempting to adjust the picture frames she had knocked down.

Tony was the first to speak.

"It's alive!"

he shouted raising his hands above his head in a fake victory celebration,

"I was beginning to think you had just rolled over and died in your sleep. Then we would really have a mess on our hands"

he said jokingly though the red-haired woman lightly slapped him across his chest, scolding him for his comment.

The woman stood and walked over to Babs' as she finished placing the frames upright.

"I'm so sorry, I should really be watching where I going"

Babs' admitted, like a child in trouble.

"Oh don't worry about those old things, we were due for some rearranging anyways"

she spoke with a kind smile. She placed a petite hand on the small of Babs' back and led her to the table to join them, "Are you hungry? Who am I kidding, you must be famished! Living off I.V. fluid for the past week. Let me go and fix you a plate."

She spoke so quickly that before she could get a word in edge-wise the woman had sat Babs' down at the table and paced towards the kitchen to fix her some breakfast.

"That would be Pepper,"

Tony spoke, pointing in the direction the red-haired woman had gone,

"she's a tad... over welcoming,"

"Oh, not at all"

Babs' spoke,

"she seems wonderful".

She stared down at her lap as she fiddled with her nails, a nervous twitch she had developed as a young child. Babs could not remember a time when she had felt more out of her element. She had worked stories in Iraq that had been less stressful than these past two minutes had been. Pepper returned shortly with a plate filled with fruit and toast.

"I hope this isn't too mundane,"

she apologized as she placed the plate in front of Babs.

"Oh God, no! Thank you so much, I really appreciate this."

Babs' spoke truthfully, not realizing how hungry she was until she smelt the buttery toast in front of her.

"It's just some toast Barbie, not a winning lottery ticket. Take it down a notch"

Tony joked as Bruce and Pepper looked at him with tired glances. Babs was too engorged with the food in front of her to pay attention to the words coming out of Tony's mouth.

"So how did you sleep?"

Pepper asked as Babs' finished up her toast and jam.

"Pretty well, thank you."

She replied easily.

"That's not what I heard, Sleeping Beauty,"

Tony said as he glanced over towards Bruce who had been quiet since Babs had arrived at the table, staring her over with a watchful eye.

"Rumor has it you were wandering around in the wee hours of the morning,"

"I couldn't sleep any longer so I decided on a quick stroll down the hallway,"

Babs answered simply,

"I found the lab and Bruce did a quick work-up. Then back to bed."

Tony looked at her amused and then turned to Bruce.

"Is that the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Doc?"

he questioned

"Nothing but,"

the timid doctor replied to his obnoxious friend.

"I was wondering if you would have a shower I would be able to use."

Babs asked as Tony's antics quieted down.

"Oh, of course. You must be just craving a nice relaxing shower!"

Pepper cried standing up,

"if you're all finished here we can leave the boys to clean up and I can get you all settled,"

"That would be wonderful!"

Babs answered, placing her napkin on her plate and standing. She gave Bruce a small smile as he began to clear the table.

"Thank you, Bruce"

she said as he grabbed her plate.

He gave her a small smirk as he replied,

"Not a problem"

and made his way into the kitchen.

Babs followed Pepper down another hallway and into a stunning marble bathroom. Pepper reached into a mahogany bureau and pulled out a fluffy, white towel and matching robe for Babs along with a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo.

"This should be everything you need. If it isn't just give me a quick call and I'll help you out. I'll just be across the hallway in my office"

she spoke with such a kind demeanor that Babs' could not help but feel at ease in her presence.

"Thank you so much Pepper."

Babs said simply as Pepper receded out of the bathroom, closing the door.

Babs undressed and stepped into the shower, making sure that her oxygen remained outside of the shower, remembering what a pain it was to dry out the last time that it had gotten soaked by water. As the warm water washed over her body, all of her worries seemed to wash away along with the grim on her skin. She simply enjoyed this modest pleasure that could be brought by some warm water and soap. There would be much organizing when she emerged from the bathroom but for right now she could enjoy the peace of the water pouring over her body.

At least that was the idea until she lost her footing after soaping up her left foot and came crashing down into the bathtub. She was left slightly dazed only slightly cluing into her fall when she saw red running down the drain and a pain in her head that intensified by the second. Suddenly Babs felt very weak and she heard the pounding of the water fade away as black spots began to cloud her vision.

She managed a weak

"Help!"

before the black spots invaded her vision completely and she passed out.


	5. Chapter Five

Babs came to just as quickly as she had fell unconscious, only now she was not alone in the bathroom. She could hear the clicking of Pepper's heeled shoes over the tiled floor, approaching the shower.

"Barbra, are you alright?"

She asked, keeping her distance from the shower to ensure Babs' privacy.

Babs sat for a moment in the shower before she understood what Pepper was asking her. Realizing her embarrassing situation, she wanted to brush it off as a mistake, though the blood was continuing to run down the drain from her head and she realized she would be a moron not to accept help. She re-affixed her cannula that had been jarred during the fall and took a deep breath.

"No,"

Babs replied honestly as she attempted to move within the bathtub. The slight movement, however jarred her left shoulder and she could feel an instant shot of familiar pain. She had dislocated her shoulder.

"I slipped and I can't pull myself back up."

Babs braced herself as she heard Pepper come closer to the shower, pulling the curtain back to view the damaged that Babs had inflicted upon herself, as Babs awkwardly attempted to cover up her nude body to keep what was left of her dignity intact.

"Oh Barbra,"

Pepper said as she view the scene in front of her. Babs' curled into herself, head bleeding and her shoulder protruding from an awkward angle. Pepper first turned off the water and then attempted to get Babs out of the tub, failing due to Babs heavier than her stature and the fact that she did not want to jar her head or shoulder and more than needed. Pepper grabbed the robe laying on the sink counter and attempted to cover up Babs and preserve some modesty for the woman, though it did not do much to help considering the angle she was sitting at and the fact that her left arm was unable to be placed into the sleeve of the robe.

"I'm so sorry,"

Pepper began, leaving Babs with a confused look on her face until the next two words left her mouth,

"Tony! Bruce! We need some help in here!"

Babs slumped further into the bathtub,

"Oh God, please"

she silently begged as she heard two sets of footsteps rush into the bathroom from down the hallway.

"What is it Pepp- oh my. What do we have here"

Tony was the first to speak at the sight of the woman in the bathtub.

"She slipped in the shower. I would have gotten her out myself but she's too heavy for me. She's coming to but she was pretty out of it when I first came in here,"

Pepper spoke as she held a towel to Babs' forehead, stemming the flow of blood.

Bruce was the one to make the first move, stepping towards Babs and leaning down to her level to assess the situation. He moved Pepper's hand from her forehead to view how deep and severe the cut was. To his relief it was only a slight cut, made to look worse by the water that had been raining down on Babs after her fall.

"It's not bad at all. The bleeding should stop in a few minutes, just keep that towel on it. Then we can clean it."

He spoke, making eye contact with Pepper rather than Babs herself. She could feel Pepper sigh with relief that the gash that she had seen was just not as bad as she had first assumed.

"Babs, how are you doing? Do you remember if you lost consciousness?"

Bruce spoke gently, now staring directly at Babs.

"Yeah, just for a few seconds though,"

she responded, feeling a blush creep into her cheeks as remembered the assuming position she was still in.

"It's really just my shoulder, I just need it popped back into place. It happens all the time though,"

she assured Bruce as he looked on credulous.

"All right, we can deal with all this, but it will probably be made easier out of the bathtub, don't you think Barbie,"

Tony spoke, reminding Babs that he was seeing her in this embarrassing position and that he would most likely never let her live it down.

"We were trying that Tony, thanks,"

she replied to him bitterly as she made a second attempt to rise from the bathtub. This time she was raised up by Bruce as Pepper attempted to keep the robe draped over her covering her more private of areas. As Bruce pulled her up by the waist she was able to stand up from the bathtub and step out onto the bath mat, Bruce helping her to sit on the edge of the tub.

"There we go, nothing to it,"

Pepper spoke in her chipper voice, easing the awkwardness within the room. Babs attempted a smile at the kind woman, but she could feel it appear as more of a grimace.

"I'll go run and grab you some clothes. I'll be right back"

she brushed her hand across the back of Babs head in a maternal gesture as she left the bathroom in search of some fresh clothing.

"You don't feel dizzy or anything right now?"

Bruce asked as he placed a hand on the small of Babs bare back to sturdy her and ensure that she didn't end up falling right back into the tub. Babs shook her head in response, trying not to focus so intently on the warmth of Bruce's hand on her bare skin.

"Good, good. I'm just going to help you lay down and we can pop your shoulder back into place, if that's alright,"

"Okay,"

Babs spoke as she moved her bottom from the edge of the tub to the floor, reaching for the towel that had been used to absorb her blood to create a makeshift head-rest. She laid herself out on the bathmat, robe covering her like a blanket, worn backwards and only her right arm actually within the sleeve.

"Tony, could I get you to hold down her right side,"

Bruce asked of his friend, taking the precaution to ensure that Babs would not responded to the pain of grinding of her shoulder with a sudden rise of her body.

"Oh with pleasure,"

Tony replied, a smirk littering his face as he knelled down beside Babs and held her right shoulder and chest down with his surprisingly gentle hands.

"How you doing Barbie?"

he asked with a coy grin. Babs ignored him and turned her attention to Bruce who had removed the section of robe covering her left shoulder and was now gently probing it to ensure that it was dislocated and not a more severe injury.

"Okay Babs, I need you to grip my hand and I'm going to pull your shoulder back into place, alright?"

he asked as he reached for her left hand and took it in his strong clasp. Babs nodded, psyching herself for the burst of pain that would erupt in her arm.

"Okay. One, two-"

**POP**

Babs shot up, or attempted to at the pain. But this quickly resided as she felt her ability to move her arm once again.

"Ohhh, this is so much better,"

she began as she sat up, threading her left arm through the robe, now wearing the garment completely backwards.

"I'm glad,"

Bruce smiled as he made to stand.

Pepper walked in with a fresh pair of clothes; what looked like a pair of black yoga pants and a purple top as the two men stood, Bruce offering a hand to Babs who took it graciously.

"I found these, they should fit you pretty well. They were left from my cousin after she stayed with us. She's about your size."

Pepper said as she passed the clothes to Babs who smiled at her in gratitude.

"Thank you Pepper. And Bruce."

She added with a smile.

"I appreciate your help so much,"

"You're welcome,"

Tony responded as he made his way out of the room followed by Pepper close on her trail, leaving to give her privacy to change.

"I'll leave you to your business then,"

Bruce spoke awkwardly, realizing that it was now just he and Babs in the bathroom.

"Try not to slip,"

he joked as he made his way to the door and closed it behind him, hearing the slight laugh of Babs behind him.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hello everyone. I hope you're liking the story so far. This is my first story publication and I am always welcome to reviews and suggestions! Thanks for your interest in my story!<br>_**


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